liquorice

American

[lik-uh-rish, lik-rish, lik-er-is] / ˈlɪk ə rɪʃ, ˈlɪk rɪʃ, ˈlɪk ər ɪs /

noun

Chiefly British.

a variant of licorice.

liquorice British

/ -ərɪʃ, ˈlɪkərɪs /

noun

a perennial Mediterranean leguminous shrub, Glycyrrhiza glabra, having spikes of pale blue flowers and flat red-brown pods
the dried root of this plant, used as a laxative and in confectionery
a sweet having a liquorice flavour

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of liquorice

C13: via Anglo-Norman and Old French from Late Latin liquirītia, from Latin glycyrrhīza, from Greek glukurrhiza, from glukus sweet + rhiza root

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He refused to comment to the PA news agency, saying he was busy eating a liquorice sweet.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2024

But some people eat more liquorice than that.

From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2024

The control product instead contained salmiak, which gives salty liquorice its flavour.

From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2024

It is not easy to know how much glycyrrhizic acid is in the liquorice you eat, as its concentration in different liquorice products varies greatly.

From Science Daily • Mar. 14, 2024

You sucked the sherbet up through the straw and when it was finished you ate the liquorice.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023